Bus vs. channel compressor

[SoundPorn]

YES i think u nailed it as to why i love it so much and now that i think about it i couldn't really dial in gentle releases which is fine bcuz my limiters have one i prefer the snappy releases that give bounce to tracks and i love how its bpm syncd.

Also i love how it keeps the same gain reduction by changes the dynamics like especially #3 that setting is a freak

I believe the H-Comp #2 is inspired by SSL. I think the 3 and 4 are inspired by Neves (I have that thought in memory but can't confirm), which makes the #1 the API. I'm about 80% on that. 3 and 4 are pretty aggressive in their coloring.

It's an interesting compressor. Missed the boat a bit without a make-up gain, which is odd for the Hybrid line since the point was to give these more deep settings so they would be more flexible.

But the real problem is the compression behavior. All models behave roughly the same in terms of how they apply GR. They all have soft knee attack in roughly the same curve, and they all have a hard-knee release missing a gentle tail, in roughly the same shape. So when you change modes you are changing some analog coloring and even wacky behavior (looking at you #3), but not the gain-reduction behavior so much.

I think that's why people take sides with this compressor. If you like that design (soft-knee attack, hard release) then you are home with this thing. For people like me that prefer a soft-knee release with a long gentle tail (say an opto) you can never get it to "sound right" regardless of settings.

IMO definitely not an all-purpose bus-compressor in the sense that the release is too hard. I would say a bus compressor has to try to blend in. But the attack portion is very nicely done. This is in the minority of compressors that actually respects the attack knob speed, and grips with surprising elegance, so you can set it well to taste.

[antic604]

Thanks guys!

I see a lot of talk about differences between brands or technologies of compressors. Which is fair, but that's obvious that different brands, models & technologies will have different detection mechanism, time of reaction, reaction curves, knee shapes, etc.

The question was different simple - is there anything in particular that master bus compressor does differently than channel compressor?

For example - if one is using bus compressor on a dynamic, electronic track it's a pretty standard technique to side-chain it to high-passed copy of your master buss signal, to get rid of the bass that'd otherwise trigger the compressor most of the time. So do bus compressors somehow do that by default, as a standard (as opposed to channel compressors that don't)? I don't really recall seeing a "bus compressor" with such controls even.

[imrae]

There's no hard rule. "Bus" and "channel" are suggested applications but there is a wide range of properties that might make a compressor more suitable for one or the other.

Having a built-in sidechain to reduce the effect of bass is a more "bus" feature, accepting an external sidechain to duck a signal is a more "channel" feature... but many compressors do both or neither. There is no particular feature that you can assume is or is not present because a compressor is marketed as "bus" or "channel"- except that a bus compressor MUST support stereo operation to avoid ridicule.

[antic604]

There's no hard rule. "Bus" and "channel" are suggested applications but there is a wide range of properties that might make a compressor more suitable for one or the other.

Having a built-in sidechain to reduce the effect of bass is a more "bus" feature, accepting an external sidechain to duck a signal is a more "channel" feature... but many compressors do both or neither. There is no particular feature that you can assume is or is not present because a compressor is marketed as "bus" or "channel"

That's exactly what I wanted to hear

except that a bus compressor MUST support stereo operation to avoid ridicule.

[jochicago]

In theory, being able to fine tune a bus compressor makes a lot of sense, as to make it fit any application. I think this is what you are picturing in your mind:
https://www.toneboosters.com/tb_bustools_v3.html

tb_buscompressor_screenshot.1428224458.jpg

Fine precision for knee control, transient shaper, detection shaper, pump management, range limit to the threshold, LF sidechain, selectable AI for auto release and auto makeup gain, channel link control, mid/side mode, plus the mega pro features of adaptive release and hysteresis.

As you can imagine, trying to use this thing to good effect is like trying to break a wild horse. It's a challenge, and if you succeed you'll have a bond with a majestic creature.

Do you need all that stuff? Absolutely not. If it suits the material, you can just slap an LA-2A on your bus, dial one knob and call it a day. Plenty of people put it on the master.

teletronix_la2a_carousel_1_1.jpg